How to know if you are in a panic attack or not at the moment and what to do with it. Part 2.
Let’s continue the story. Read Part 1 here.
Pathogenesis of a panic attack in simple terms.
Here is the scheme by which attacks can be triggered:
This scheme is also called the “cognitive-physiological loop”.
- Perception of the situation as a threat (the appearance of fear) → 2. release of adrenaline → 3. physical symptoms (for example, tachycardia, hyperventilation) → 4. interpretation of symptoms as a mortal danger → 5. hence increased fear → 6. new release of adrenaline.
Our psyche and vision of the situation create the basis for the emergence of panic attacks.
A. Features of the psyche.
- catastrophic thinking: the patient is always set up to believe that only dangers await him ahead.
- low self-confidence.
B. Perception of the situation. Panic attacks often occur during or after situations where the patient perceives these situations as something very significant. For example, a student is taking an exam and this exam is very important to him. Then, taking into account other factors, the student may have a panic attack either during the exam or after it. Another example: a courier is transporting a rare and expensive animal on an airplane and he is visited by thoughts that this animal may suffer during the flight and the perceived significance of the situation may provoke an attack.
C. Peculiarities of anxiety.
Let us remind you once again that anxiety during a panic attack is sharp and intense in the form of extreme fear with thoughts that something dangerous and inevitable must happen right now.
Trigger situations.
Feeling of being locked in
Closed spaces (airplanes, elevators, train cars) often provoke attacks due to the fear of limiting freedom of action. This is due to the activation of ancient survival mechanisms that react to a potential trap. Responsible actions
Driving a car can become a trigger due to:
Fear of losing control over the situation
Hyperfocus on physiological reactions (heartbeat, breathing).
Catastrophic thoughts (“I’ll die while driving”, “I’ll cause an accident”).
Social shame. Thoughts like: “I might not be able to cope with something; I might faint and let other people down; I might not be able to hold my bowel movements or urination, etc.”
Modern methods of treating panic attacks. We’ll just list them to get an idea.
Drug treatment. Doctors have a wide range of drugs at their disposal.
Psychotherapeutic methods. Here, cognitive behavioral therapy is especially worth mentioning. It really does give high efficiency.
What can you do if you are caught off guard by a panic attack?
Here, the author of the article presents two methods that you can implement yourself. These methods significantly alleviate the patient’s condition during panic attacks and do not give any side effects.
Method 1. If you, dear reader, are reading these lines, then you have already experienced at least one attack of panic attacks in the past. You should know that the attack ends one way or another. And now, during a panic attack, no matter how scared you are, try to focus on some action in your body. Better on breathing. For example, imagine that you are a diligent student and your teacher told you to focus only on exhalation, and breathing should be moderate. Breathe like this for as long as the feeling of fear begins to leave you.
Method 2. This method is paradoxical. Here the patient needs to imagine himself as a kind of research scientist. During a panic attack, perceive all bodily sensations and the fear itself as objects for study. You should mentally meet them, mentally approach them, begin to study them closely and carefully, as if you are examining them from different sides. And you can go even further: mentally try to strengthen them, telling yourself, for example, such words: “Well, Panic Attack, show yourself in all your power, what are you capable of?!”. Having trained like this several times, the brain stops perceiving bodily sensations as something dangerous.
Final words.
A panic attack is a very unpleasant thing. But do not despair. We, people, in most cases create these states (PA) ourselves, which means we ourselves can eliminate them.
Be healthy!
Sources of materials:
1. https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/panic-attack-happening
